……I solemnly swear that I will do my amateur author’s best to have Reaper V: To Skins out for my wonderful reading audience by no later than February 29, 2012 — Leap Year!

I’m trying to get two shifts juggled around at my real-world-day job, not necessarily so I can get more writing done (although it WOULD be nice) but because I need a bit of a break after my stretch of 8 nights (some of which are 12 hour shifts). [Side Note: Never in my life have I felt more kinship with the mythology of the vampire….up all night, sleeping all day (with as little sunlight to interrupt said sleep as possible)… makes it appropriate to be writing about Samantha Bennet, supernatural cop with a night-time vigilante gig —- ya, that’s a mouthful, but it’s an INTERESTING mouthful!…]

I’ve got a lot of work to do to make Reaper V as amazing as I envision – and want – it to be. I aspire to reach or exceed this goal. Thanks to the reviews left by readers on the various websites (and Amazon’s own website) I feel more able to navigate the gauntlet of writing woes….and also, may have learned from your input such things as how to avoid offending you & repulsing you. Also such things as how to succeed at keeping you interested, intriguing you and entertaining you!

I’m an amateur. Possibly one who is a little delusional if she thinks that she can pull off a writing career sans editor and Big 6 publishing house. That being said, I’m still surfing the learning curve and likely will be for the rest of said writing career.

Gladly, i can report that I’ve been making sales!

The majority of my book downloads from Amazon.com have been “FREE” downloads. This is roughly 35,000 copies’ worth by my estimate. Approximately 1,500 have been sales of between $2.99 – $0.99, resulting in royalties of between $2.10 and $0.34 (the majority of which have been of the $0.99USD variety, so let’s just say approx $600 in sales across USD, Euros, and Pounds). $600 will help cover some of the expenses incurred, such as the Office 2010 software and Dragon naturally Speaking software (which, sadly, I have not been using as much as I had hoped — great software, I just have a lisp from my braces which makes for a steep learning curve for commands and other features!). Another 100+ sales have not been sales but “borrows” from the Amazon Prime program. The borrows translate into (s0 far) approx $1.70 USD per borrow.

I have yet to see an actual red cent from Amazon (cheques are mailed 60 days after publication, apparently), and I published in early December. Also, you have to accumulate to $100USD before recieving USD funds, $100 Euro before you recieve Euro funds, etc. Then, there is the 30% witholding tax that the IRS maintains….

Suffice to say, that area of ye olde self-publishing learning curve is also relatively turbulent.

p.s. – I intend to keep all of my single Reaper installments at $0.99USD. When I release 5-installment collections (coming soon!) I will be charging a modest $3.99, so it’s basically like getting one installment free. This price may change as I assess consumer interest…er…reader satisfaction. 🙂

…….Reaper I: The Beginning has moved about 11000 free copies on Amazon and Reaper II: Neophyte has moved about 9400.

I am thrilled, amazed and humbled by the reader response!

Reaper: The Beginning currently sits at #1 position on Amazon.com Free->Occult listing! #76 overall for Free

Reaper II: Neophyte is sitting at — TAH DAH!!!! —- #2 position on Amazon.com for Free->Occult!!!! #88 overall for Free

Thank you thank you THANK YOU everyone who helped to make this possible!

One small request?

If you have read what you downloaded, please log in to your Amazon account and leave a review — whether “good” “bad” “positive” or “negative” — your feedback can/will only make me a better author in the long run, will likely serve to improve the quality of the novels/novellas I release and also serve to tell me what my readers love/hate most about my ideas and writing style.

It’s one of the ways i get to hear back!

So far, some of the themes reviewers are leaving are:

– stories are too short

– plot is great

– characters are believeable/likeable

-too much vulgar language

– not sure if target audience is teenagers or adults

– authentic thriller

– too much detail in description of flowers

And assorted other things.

Suffice to say, I am reading all reviews and carefully taking each one into consideration as I plod forth.

Once I finish releasing Reaper 1 – 5 as single titles, I am going to release Reaper 1 – 5 as a compilation at a discounted price, to try to alleviate some of the readers’ frustration with the novel length. I will also work on making the series pieces longer, as this seems to be a frequent concern. However, for Reaper 1, 2 & 3 in particular, there is method to my madness — I wanted them to be DISTINCTLY seperate from the rest of the series…..I will try to adapt Reapers 4 & on to be longer. The thing is, where I see a naturally occuring break in the storyline, that is where I intend to seperate the tales….

I can’t please everyone, but if you leave me your reviews, I will try to make appropriate changes to my system of delivery….though not to my vision or my characters whims, such as they are.

Thank you so much for your continued interest in my projects!

Sincere regards and happy reading!

Amanda M. Holt

Amateur Authoress, Self-Proclaimed Work In Progress and Fairly Cooperative Human Being

Lil ol’ me

I'm a published Canadian author of contemporary and paranormal romance and erotica (eBooks thus far!), aspiring to become a household horror icon...There's a lot of writer's anxiety and elbow grease (or rather, risk of developing carpal tunnel) that precedes getting published - and this is my blog all about it!